China-US hacking war of words heats up

It looks innocent enough ... the 12-story headquarters of Unit 61398 of the People's Liberation Army in Shanghai - and home to the most sophisticated of the Chinese hacking groups. Photo: The New York Times

Hackers mainly based in the United States attacked two Chinese military websites including the Defence Ministry page an average of 144,000 times a month last year, the ministry says.

China's first report of attacks on its websites steps up a war of words between the powers, after a US security company said last week that a Chinese military unit was behind a series of hacking attacks on US firms.

"The Defence Ministry and China Military Online websites were hacked from overseas on average 144,000 times a month in 2012," ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said on the ministry's website.

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Some 62 per cent of the attacks came from the United States, he said, adding that the number of hacking assaults on military websites "has risen steadily in recent years".

He did not specify any entities from which the alleged attacks originated.

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A report from US security firm Mandiant said a unit of China's People's Liberation Army had stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organisations, mostly based in the United States.

China's defence ministry had said the report had "no factual basis".

Mr Geng called on US officials to "explain and clarify" what he said were recent US media reports that Washington would carry out "pre-emptive" cyber attacks and expand its online warfare capabilities.

He added: "At present, China's military has no cyber warfare units."

Last month the New York Times and other American media outlets reported they had come under hacking attacks from China, and a US congressional report last year named the country as "the most threatening actor in cyberspace".